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The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Asset Limit: Reports of Its Death May Be Exaggerated

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Abstract

It is reported that 35 states no longer impose asset limits for eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), reversing a policy that had been in effect until 2000 limiting liquid assets to $2000 for most households. Our research shows that information provided by state and federal websites for prospective SNAP applicants in most of these states is inconsistent with this policy. For 28 of the 35 states which were reported to have eliminated asset tests, the state website, or a state-specific federal website, provided information indicating that an asset limit was in effect. We suspect that this does not reflect a conscious policy but rather a lack of administrative attention, in combination with the complexity of broad-based categorical eligibility. Whatever its source, this discrepancy discourages eligible individuals from applying for SNAP, violates policy transparency, and blunts public policy benefits that may accrue from elimination of the asset test.

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  • Peter R. Mueser & Colleen M. Heflin & Jacob M. Cronin, 2015. "The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Asset Limit: Reports of Its Death May Be Exaggerated," Working Papers 1506, Department of Economics, University of Missouri.
    • Handle: RePEc:umc:wpaper:1506
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    1. Elizabeth Laird & Carole Trippe, "undated". "Programs Conferring Categorical Eligibility for SNAP: State Policies and the Number and Characteristics of Households Affected," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 39df9cc1b0ea4c889a90ceb32, Mathematica Policy Research.
    2. James P. Ziliak, 2003. "Income Transfers and Assets of the Poor," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 85(1), pages 63-76, February.
    3. Congressional Budget Office, 2012. "The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program," Reports 43173, Congressional Budget Office.
    4. Peter Ganong & Jeffrey B. Liebman, 2018. "The Decline, Rebound, and Further Rise in SNAP Enrollment: Disentangling Business Cycle Fluctuations and Policy Changes," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 10(4), pages 153-176, November.
    5. repec:mpr:mprres:8036 is not listed on IDEAS
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    1. Jessica E Todd & Young Jo & James Richard Boohaker, 2019. "The Impact of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Policies on Asset Holdings," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(2), pages 305-328, June.
    2. Bradley Hardy & Timothy Smeeding & James P. Ziliak, 2018. "The Changing Safety Net for Low-Income Parents and Their Children: Structural or Cyclical Changes in Income Support Policy?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(1), pages 189-221, February.
    3. Leah Hamilton & David Rothwell & Jin Huang & Yunju Nam & Taylor Dollar, 2019. "Guarding Public Coffers or Trapping the Poor? The Role of Public Assistance Asset Limits in Program Efficacy and Family Economic Well‐Being," Poverty & Public Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(1-2), pages 12-30, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    SNAP; assets; Food Stamps; resource limits;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H53 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Welfare Programs
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs

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